Following Google executive Alan Eustace's supersonic skydive, physicist Dr Simon Foster examines the possibility that such feats might one day become commonplace
Google executive Alan Eustace took the world by surprise when he broke Felix Baumgartner's record by leaping over 41 kilometres from the edge of space.
Unlike Baumgartner's 2012 jump, Eustace's supersonic skydive took place out of the media spotlight, with little fanfare.
According to Dr Simon Foster, a physicist from Imperial College London, the key difference between the two jumps was that Baumgartner used a capsule to make his ascent, whereas Eustace relied on a high-altitude, helium-filled balloon
"I don't mean to denigrate it or talk down about it, but he did it in a kind of low-fi way, a very ingenious way – he basically just attached himself directly to the balloon and kind of hitched a ride," Dr Foster told The Telegraph.
Despite the excitement surrounding the jump, Dr Foster said he thought it unlikely that Eustace's success would pave the way for ordinary civilians to space jump as a matter of course.